Saturday, January 10
Morgantown, W.Va.
Noon
West Virginia University
vs
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Kansas
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU to Face Talented Kansas on Saturday Afternoon in Hope Coliseum
January 09, 2026 10:34 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Saturday afternoon will be West Virginia's 30th all-time meeting against Kansas in a series that began in 2013 when the Mountaineers joined the Big 12.
WVU has had some memorable performances against the Jayhawks, such as last year's 62-61 heart-stopping triumph in Allen Fieldhouse and an unexpected 91-85 victory two years ago in Morgantown during a 9-23 season.
There was a 91-79 win here in 2021, and buzzer-beaters in 2019 and 2015. West Virginia's biggest margin of victory over Kansas was 16 points back during the "Press Virginia" days in 2017 when the Jayhawks were ranked No. 2 in the country, and the first-ever victory against Kansas on March 8, 2014, when the Mountaineers topped the eighth-ranked Jayhawks 92-86, was also notable.
Kansas is bringing another explosive and talented team to Morgantown that features 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman guard Darryn Peterson, who will by vying with BYU's AJ Dybansta for the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft.
Peterson remains No. 1 on ESPN.com's draft board despite battling hamstring issues during the early portion of the season.
Peterson has scored 26 and 32 points in his last two games since returning to the lineup last Saturday at UCF. In six games this year he's averaging 22.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 50% from the floor.
"His combination of starry upside and reliable high-end floor remains the strongest of the three candidates to go No. 1," according to ESPN.com's draft profile on him. "His ability to make tough things look easy while playing under control and creating shots in the flow of the game makes him especially hard to defend."
Count West Virginia coach Ross Hodge among Peterson's admirers.
"He's an elite defender with great size," the coach said during his weekly United Bank Playbook segment with Tony Caridi. "He's got a quick first step and can get to spots. He can shoot the ball with range and he's a good passer. He doesn't really have a lot of holes in his game, per se.
"That's why the onus is on the team and the group to make sure we don't give a player like that easy ones – wide-open 3s or layups in transition. Then you want to try and keep him off the foul line as best as you can," he said.
With either Peterson or Dybansta the two most likely candidates to go No. 1 overall this year, that means it will probably be the first time since Andrew Wiggins put up 41 points in Kansas' six-point loss in 2014 that West Virginia fans will get see college basketball's No. 1 overall prospect play in the Coliseum.
Kansas, of course, has an outstanding supporting cast with guard Tre White turning in 15 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and forward Flory Bidunga contributing 14.3 points and 9.1 boards per contest.
Guard Melvin Council Jr. shows averages of 13.7 points and 5.1 assists per outing.
Kansas (11-4, 1-1) is averaging 77.7 points per game while shooting 47% from the floor. In conference play, the Jayhawks were downed 81-75 at UCF last Saturday and rallied from 16 points down to defeat TCU 104-100 in overtime earlier this week.
"They are so explosive in transition," Hodge said. "They do such a good job of playing with force and just a relentless nature of getting paint touches. Obviously, they have a couple of lob threats and shot makers, and it's just that continuous, never-stopping, down-hill paint presence that will require us to play our best defensive transition game of the year."
Defensively, Hodge said Kansas' ability to switch can create issues offensively.
"They switch a lot of your off-the-ball actions, your ball screening actions and so it's that fine line of wanting to be able to find and exploit mismatches, but at the same time you can't get stale and stagnant where you are just kind of standing around," he said.
West Virginia (10-5, 1-1) picked up its first conference victory of the season on Tuesday night against Cincinnati.
Honor Huff poured in a game-high 24 points, connecting on 6 of 10 from 3-point distance. However, it was Trey Eaglestaff's 3-pointer with 1:12 remaining and the shot-clock winding down that gave West Virginia a lead it never relinquished.
Eaglestaff finished with 10 points, four fewer than Chance Moore's 14 coming off the bench.
Saturday's contest will be Kansas' 13th appearance in Hope Coliseum where West Virginia owns a 7-5 mark against the Jayhawks. WVU has won two in a row over Kansas for the first time since 2014-15.
The game will tip off at noon and will be televised nationally on FOX (Brandon Gaudin and LaPhonso Ellis). Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will start things off at 11 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Game Day apps.
The contest has already been announced a sell out.
WVU has had some memorable performances against the Jayhawks, such as last year's 62-61 heart-stopping triumph in Allen Fieldhouse and an unexpected 91-85 victory two years ago in Morgantown during a 9-23 season.
There was a 91-79 win here in 2021, and buzzer-beaters in 2019 and 2015. West Virginia's biggest margin of victory over Kansas was 16 points back during the "Press Virginia" days in 2017 when the Jayhawks were ranked No. 2 in the country, and the first-ever victory against Kansas on March 8, 2014, when the Mountaineers topped the eighth-ranked Jayhawks 92-86, was also notable.
Kansas is bringing another explosive and talented team to Morgantown that features 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman guard Darryn Peterson, who will by vying with BYU's AJ Dybansta for the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft.
Peterson remains No. 1 on ESPN.com's draft board despite battling hamstring issues during the early portion of the season.
Peterson has scored 26 and 32 points in his last two games since returning to the lineup last Saturday at UCF. In six games this year he's averaging 22.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 50% from the floor.
"His combination of starry upside and reliable high-end floor remains the strongest of the three candidates to go No. 1," according to ESPN.com's draft profile on him. "His ability to make tough things look easy while playing under control and creating shots in the flow of the game makes him especially hard to defend."
Count West Virginia coach Ross Hodge among Peterson's admirers.
"He's an elite defender with great size," the coach said during his weekly United Bank Playbook segment with Tony Caridi. "He's got a quick first step and can get to spots. He can shoot the ball with range and he's a good passer. He doesn't really have a lot of holes in his game, per se.
"That's why the onus is on the team and the group to make sure we don't give a player like that easy ones – wide-open 3s or layups in transition. Then you want to try and keep him off the foul line as best as you can," he said.
With either Peterson or Dybansta the two most likely candidates to go No. 1 overall this year, that means it will probably be the first time since Andrew Wiggins put up 41 points in Kansas' six-point loss in 2014 that West Virginia fans will get see college basketball's No. 1 overall prospect play in the Coliseum.
Kansas, of course, has an outstanding supporting cast with guard Tre White turning in 15 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and forward Flory Bidunga contributing 14.3 points and 9.1 boards per contest.
Guard Melvin Council Jr. shows averages of 13.7 points and 5.1 assists per outing.
Kansas (11-4, 1-1) is averaging 77.7 points per game while shooting 47% from the floor. In conference play, the Jayhawks were downed 81-75 at UCF last Saturday and rallied from 16 points down to defeat TCU 104-100 in overtime earlier this week.
"They are so explosive in transition," Hodge said. "They do such a good job of playing with force and just a relentless nature of getting paint touches. Obviously, they have a couple of lob threats and shot makers, and it's just that continuous, never-stopping, down-hill paint presence that will require us to play our best defensive transition game of the year."
Defensively, Hodge said Kansas' ability to switch can create issues offensively.
"They switch a lot of your off-the-ball actions, your ball screening actions and so it's that fine line of wanting to be able to find and exploit mismatches, but at the same time you can't get stale and stagnant where you are just kind of standing around," he said.
West Virginia (10-5, 1-1) picked up its first conference victory of the season on Tuesday night against Cincinnati.
Honor Huff poured in a game-high 24 points, connecting on 6 of 10 from 3-point distance. However, it was Trey Eaglestaff's 3-pointer with 1:12 remaining and the shot-clock winding down that gave West Virginia a lead it never relinquished.
Eaglestaff finished with 10 points, four fewer than Chance Moore's 14 coming off the bench.
Saturday's contest will be Kansas' 13th appearance in Hope Coliseum where West Virginia owns a 7-5 mark against the Jayhawks. WVU has won two in a row over Kansas for the first time since 2014-15.
The game will tip off at noon and will be televised nationally on FOX (Brandon Gaudin and LaPhonso Ellis). Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will start things off at 11 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Game Day apps.
The contest has already been announced a sell out.
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Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballUnited Bank Preview: Kansas Preview
Friday, January 09
Cincinnati Game Cinematic Recap
Thursday, January 08
TV Highlights: WVU 62, Cincinnati 60
Wednesday, January 07
Ross Hodge | Cincinnati Postgame
Tuesday, January 06
